Golf putter apparatus



Aug. 4, 1959 Filed Dec. 7. 1956 J. S. WILLIAMS GOLF PUTTER APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet l 'JOHN- s. WILLIAMS 1959 J. '5. WILLIAMS 2,898,109

GOLF PUTTER APPARATUS Filed Dec. '7, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I I INVENTOR JOHN S. WILLIAMS United States Patent GOLF PUTTER APPARATUS John S. Williams, Cmnberland, British Columbia, Canada Application December 7, 1956, Serial No. 627,016

4 Claims. (Cl. 273-163) This invention relates to apparatus to be attached to golf putters to help the player when making comparaively long putts.

An object of the present invention is the provision of golf putter apparatus which when in combination with a putter enables the player instantly and accurately to position the face of the putter normal to a line extending directly to the golf hole.

Another object is the provision of golf putter apparatus which may be attached to any putter for assisting a player to line up with a golf hole. A further object is the provision of golf putter apparatus which may permanently form part of a putter or,may be an attachment for any putter which will enable a player to attain a line of sight, when the putter is held in a sighting position with its blade face at the ball, from his eye downwardly and then at right angles through the ball to the hole and/or the flagpole thereof. A further object is the provision of golf putter apparatus having a sighting line spaced above a sighting line on the putter blade which enables a player to locate his putter in exactly the correct position each time he attempts to putt.

An example of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the golf putter ap paratus by itself, this form of'the apparatus being'one that is adapted to be attached to or mounted on golf putters,

Figure 2 is an elevation of a golf putter looking towards the blade face thereof with the putter apparatus mounted thereon, e

Figure 3 is an elevation of the putter and apparatus from the back of the putter blade,

Figure 4 is an elevation of the putter and apparatus looking over the putter blade towards the shaft'of the club, with a ball positioned in front of the-blade,

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2, showing the putter apparatus in plan,

Figure 6 diagrammatically illustrates the line of sight in side elevation obtained by means of this putter apparatus, and

Figure 7 diagrammatically represents the line of sight straightened out and passing through the sighting lines of the apparatus and putter blade, and the centre of a golf ball and a golf hole.

Referring to the drawings, 10 is a golf putter including a shaft 11 with a head or blade 12 extending laterally from an end thereof. This blade has a face 13 which lies in a substantially vertical plane when the putter is normally held in a sighting position by a player. When sighting or aligning the putter blade with a golf hole, the player usually holds the putter in a vertical position with the blade immediately behind a ball 15, see Figure 4. In order to cause the ball to move towards the hole, the club blade must extend at right angles to a straight line extending to said hole. This golf putter apparatus enables the player quickly and accurately to position ice the face of the blade normal to a straight line extending to the hole.

The golf putter apparatus is generally designated by the numeral 20, and comprises mainly a mirror 22 which, when the apparatus is mounted on the putter 10, extends at an angle to the vertical when the putter is in its normal sighting position, at which time shaft 11 lies in a substantially vertical plane. The angle of inclination of the mirror is such that when the player looks downwardly into it he can see a golf hole, flagpole, or other obstacle located away from the putter and roughly in the general plane of the putter blade. The mirror is usually inclined downwardly approximately 50 to the vertical, although this may vary a little, depending upon its height above the blade. Suitable means is provided for supporting the mirror 22 in its proper position, and clamping means is provided for securing the supporting means to the putter shaft. The supporting means and clamping means may vary, and the supporting means may actually be permanently secured to or formed with the putter shaft 11.

. In this example, a supporting arm 25 is provided, said arm projecting outwardly from a clamp 26. This clamp is adapted to secure the arm to the putter shaft 11. In this example, the clamp is in the form of a sleeve which I is split into two sections 29 and 30. These sections are held together in any desired manner, such as by means of bolts 31 and nuts 32, said bolts extending through the two sleeve sections. f Supporting arm 25 is secured to one of the sleeve sections, in this case section 30, and projects outwardly therefrom. By referring to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen that the arm not only extends laterally from the sleeve but it is inclined a little towards the lower end thereof. The angle of depression is such that when the sleeve is mounted on the putter shaft, the arm extends in a substantially horizontal plane when the putter is held in a normal sighting position, at which time said arm is approximately parallel with blade 12. With the illustrated example, it has been found that when the arm extends downwardly at an angle of approximately 17 from a line 33 normal to the sleeve, see Figure 3, the putter. is held in a comfortable position when the arm is in a substantially horizontal plane. extends outwardly over the blade in line therewith, see Figure 5, and it is spaced above the blade.

- Mirror 22 is secured to arm 25 in any desired manner,

but it is preferable to secure the upper edge 35 of the mirror to the arm so that said mirror extends longitudinally downwardly from the arm at an angle to the vertical plane. Furthermore, the mirror is transversely par-- allel to the blade face 13, that is, the latter is normal to a vertical plane to which the blade face 13 is also normal when the putter 10 is held in its usual sighting position with the shaft thereof in a vertical plane. Although mirror 22 is shown depending from arm 25, there is no end, but it preferably extends the length thereof. If the mirror completely hangs down from supporting arm 25, it is desirable to produce this mark as at 39 over the top of the arm. This mark is so positioned that it aligns with another mark 42 on blade 12 when the line of sight, indicated at 45 in Figures 2 and 3, down through said marks in a perpendicular plane and the putter is in its correct sighting position. Mark 42 is on the top of the blade and it may extend down the back thereof as shown in Figure 3, and it is located immediately behind the point of the blade where the ball is normally struck during the Patented Aug. 4, 1959 Furthermore, the arm a 3 putting operation. Furthermore, line 38 may be just at the top of the mirror or on arm 25, but it is preferably in the form of a vertical line, as shown, which extends longitudinally of the mirror. It is to be understood that when the line of the mirror is referred to, it is intendedtd include that portion extending over the suppdrtin'g arm; The reason for'this is that it is the mirrorrnarli that needs to be aligned with the blade mark, and if desired,

the mirror may he so positioned that its upper end lies over the arm.- Iri addition to this, the ortion of mark 38 over the arm may be omitted since it is still ossible to align the mirror mark with the blade mark,- but this operation is made a little easier if the mirror mark is extended over the arm in the illustrated form of the invention. v

When using. putter apparatus 20' for sighting on a golf hole or a flagpole pr 'e'cting' upwardly from a hole, the player grasps putter in the usual manner and places blade 12 behind ball 15 with the latter centered on the blade mark 42, and with the shaft 11 in a vertical plane. He then looks downwardly into mirror 22 and swivels the putter around slowly until the image of the hole appears in the mirror. He then carefully positions the blade until mirror mark 38 is seen to pass through the exact centre ofthe hole image and at the same time coincides with blade mark 42. At time, the blade face 13 is normal to a straight line extending from said face thronghthe centre of the ball to the hole. If desired, the flagpole may be leftstanding vertically in the hole, in which case the putter is moved until vertical line 38 coincides with the image of the pole in the mirror and with blade mark- 42.

When the putter isin its correct sighting position, the player is lookingdown the sight line 45, see Figure 6, into mirror 21. The angle of the mirror is such that the sight continues along line 48 into the hole 49. With the aim 25 spaced about 8 inches above blade 12 and the fillffdl set at an angle of 50 to the vertical, the player can see the image of the hole in the mirror up to a distance of 2.0 feet from said hole. In other words, at any point within this range, he canshift the club the mirror line 38 extends across the centre of the image of the hole inthe mirror while keeping said line aligned with blade line 42.- Alternatively, coinciding lines 38 and 42 may be brought into exact alignment with the image in the mirror of a flagpole 50 projecting upwardly from hole Figure 7 illustrates sight lines 45- and 48 and flagpole 50 flattened out and aligned. The sight lines pass through mirror mark 38-, blade mark 42, the centres of ball 15 and hole 49,- and pole 50.- The putter and putter apparatus" are also shown in broken lines tipped back out of the correct sighting. position. This shows how mirror mark 38' is moved out of alignment with the ball and hole centres, and why the holecould not be seen in the mirror. This figure clearly illustrates the'value of aligning spacedapart marks 38 and 42 with each other and the holeduring sighting in the same manner as the front and back sights of a rifleare aligned onatarget during shooting.

It is a simple matter properly to position the putting apparatus on the putter 10. The supporting arm is secured to the putter shaft 11 by means of clamping: sleeve 26. The arm is held directly over the blade 12 and with the illustrated construction, preferably about 8 4 inches above the latter. Then the putter is held in a comfGlfIEl sighting fifisit'idfi Blfid while looking iii the fiiiildf, the player shifts it around until mirror mark 38 coincides with the image in the mirror of a suspended plumb line or other truly vertical object located at least 25 feet away. While the putter is held in this position, line 42 is drawn on the putter blade exactly in line with the coinciding mark 38 and plumb line image.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Golf putter apparatus comprising, in combination with a golf putter iiicliiding a shaft with a blade ex tending laterally from an end thereof, said blade having a face lying in a substantially vertical plane when the putter is normally held in sightingp'osition by a player, a support, clamping means on the support for securing it to the putter shaft above the blade thereof, an inclined mirror carried by the support and extending longitudinally downwardly at an angleto the vertical plane and transversely parallel to the blade face, said mirror and the putter blade having marks thereon positioned where they can be seenand' to align vertically when the putter is in its correct sighting position, and when the putteri is moved to make the mirror and blade marks coincide with each other and with the image in the mirror of a golf hole spaced from the putter, the blade face is at right angles to a straight line extending through said hole.

2. Golf putter" apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the mark on the mirror is a verticalline which will align with a vertical flagpole projecting troni a golf hole when said mark is directly over the blade mark and the blade face i'snormal to astraight line extending to the hole.

3. Golf putter apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the mirror extends downwardly at an angle of approximately 59' to the vertical.

4 Golf putter apparatus comprising, in combination with a golf putter including a shaft with a blade extending laterally from an end thereof, said blade having a face lying ina substantially vertical plane when the putter" is normally held insighting. position by a player, a clamping sleeve adapted to be clamped on the club shaft, a supporting armprojecting outwardly from the sleeve over and above the blade in a substantially horizontal plane and parallekwith the blade face an inclined mirror extending-longitudinally downwardly from the arm at an angle to the vertical plane, said mirror having a vertical mark thereon in a plane normal to the blade plane and said putter blade having a mark on' the top thereof where it can be seen when the putter is in its normal sighting position, said marks being positioned to align vertically when the putter is in its correct sighting position, and when the putter is moved to make the mirror and blade marks coincide with each otherand with the image inthe mirror of a golf hole spaced from the putter, the bladeface is at right angles to astraight line extending through said hole;

References Gited in the file of this patent STATES PATENTS 1,556,062 Baugh our. 6 1925" 2,822,614 sus'inno' Feb: 11, 1-958 FOREIGN PATENTS 223,044 Great Britain 19 2 4 

